What should my next step be?

[Poipuo4]

I would like to find more information on my great grandfather. I got his name from my grandmother's Italian birth certificate. I don't have his date of birth. I can only estimate it based on the birthdate of my great grandmother, which was 1873 (assuming that they were close in age, which is not always true). He died around 1908 before the family went to America.

Here is what I know: the town of his birth (Paduli di Benvento). The town that my grandmother emigrated from (Montefalcone di Benevento) and date of her immigration.

Should I write to Paduli, seeking his birth certificate, based on an estimated year of birth? Should I write to Montefalcone for a certificate of the family? Would that certificate have information on my great grandfather, if he died prior to his family leaving for America. By the way, he died in Turkey, so I am assuming there are no Italian death records of the event. Which path am I more likely to have success from? My goal is to eventually obtain the names of my great grandfather's parents and my great grandfather's date of birth.

[drovedo]

I would seek to write to Paduli for the birth certificate and the state archives of the region as well for the same info. Both should have it. See below:

Comune di Paduli:
http://www.comune.paduli.bn.it/


Benevento:
http://wwwdb.archivi.beniculturali.it/S ... NEVENTO%22

Address:ARCHIVIO DI STATO DI BENEVENTO
Via G. De Vita 3 - 82100 Benevento
E-Mail: asbn@archivi.beniculturali.it
Sito Web: http://archivi.beniculturali/ASBN/home.html

DIRETTORE: VALERIA TADDEO
E-Mail: asbn@archivi.beniculturali.it


Also try to get your great grandfather's military draft record. The document lists date of birth, place of birth, and parents names. All Italian males at age eighteen beginning circa 1871 were required to register for the draft even if they did not eventually serve. Of course, this excludes those who skipped the country to avoid registration.

Read this article about military draft records. You may obtain them from the state archives.
http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilpip1gs/Artic ... _recds.htm